Due to rapid development of new informational technologies, progress in chemistry, biology, technics introducing into archival administration modern archivists must be highly professional experts.
Russian experience approves that special schools, courses and archival training centers are useful for raising professional skills of archivists. In such institutions archivists can raise the level of their professional skill or achieve further education training on job or by day release training. It is particularly important for regional archivists.
Archival training center at the European University at St. Petersburg is one of such centers. It gives to Russian archivists an opportunity to become acquainted with not only Russian progressive experience but also with foreign experience in the field of Archival Administration.
Archival training center`s curriculum is developed taking into account topicality of the problem and possibility of its theoretical comprehension and practical introduction. Course of lectures helps archivists to broaden their professional outlook. Practical studies in the largest archives, libraries and museums of St. Petersburg give archivists an opportunity to become acquainted with experience of their colleagues directly.
Archival training center takes into consideration the main problems of archival administration such as modern methods and forms of acquisition, introduction of recent scientific and technological achievements in the field of preservation of documents and fonds, creating of electronic catalogues and information storage and retrieval systems, archival guides, use of internet resources for access to archival information etc.
We plan further development of curriculum on the basis of cooperation with leading archival institutions and experts from Russia, Europe, USA as well as broadening of professional auditory by teaching students, specialists from museums, libraries, public and private archives.